What it Takes to Get There
by Peguin2247
Summary: It's the summer after fifth year, Harry is at Grimmauld Place when the unexpected happens, The Malfoys show up with Snape, a battered body in hands. Who is it? Whats going on? And will this help defeat Voldemort? First story! Reviews loved!
1. Chapter 1: Just When Everything seemed F

**This is my first fan fiction so please review and tell me what I need to improve. The characters are a little out of character, but hope not too much. Thanks for reading.**

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Chapter 1: Just When Everything Seemed Fine

It was the summer after their Fifth year, Harry was allowed to stay at Grimmuald Place after the almost death of is godfather, Sirius. He blamed himself for believing the vision that Voldemort sent him and nearly died when he saw a green light admit from Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, zooming toward his godfather. Luckily, Remus had saw it too and sent a spell to knock Sirius out of the way before it hit him.

All the Death Eaters got away, but not before the Prime Minister, Fudge, could see You- Know- Who was truly back, in the flesh. It wasn't long after that, Fudge quit and a new minister, Rufus Scrimegour, took his place. Scrimegour had also been there with Fudge when he saw He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Scrimegour was the old Head of Aurors, so unlike the former minister he had a back-bone and promised the people that he would get rid of You-Know-Who for good. The crowd had seemed at peace by his words and for once nobody was calling Harry a liar.

It seemed that this would be the best summer of Harry's young life; he was able to talk and hang out with his friends, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Neville (whose grandma asked Dumbledore to keep him while she went on a trip to America with her old friends), and he wasn't stuck at the horrible Dursleys' house to work and starve. Yes, it seemed everything was fine until there was a panicking knock at the door.

Before anyone could go answer, the door was busted opened, Severus Snape standing with a battered body in his arms, behind him two disheveled Malfoys. Snape wasted no time bustling upstairs, the Malfoys following quickly behind, worry easily expressed in all of their eyes. He seemed not to even notice the room full of Weasleys, Harry, Neville, Hermione, Sirius and Remus. They all sat their gaping at the unexpected site until Ron expressed what they were all thinking.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!"

"My words, exactly," Harry chuckled

"Was that Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," Ginny asked.

"Who was Snape carrying," Neville asked not long after.

For a moment everyone just sat there not uttering a word, until Sirius got off the couch and began moving towards the stairs causing everyone to spring out of their seats and follow, curiosity getting the best off them all, but before they could even go up the first stair, Snape was on his way down, a stress look visible with Lucius Malfoy following. The only words he said before slipping into the kitchen was, "I think we will need to call Albus, it seems a meeting is in order."

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**Okay, so how was it? Just kind of tell me what you thought. I promise it will get better…. Or I'll try to make it better. Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2: For Our Son

**Here is chapter two, I hope it answers some questions.**

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Chapter 2: For Our Son

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Only the immediate were being allowed into the Order meeting for the explanation of Why Malfoys were at Grimmuald Place. Just when the meeting was fixing to start there was a loud beating on the door. Taking off the wards, Dumbledore open the door to find a very determined looking Harry with Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Neville standing close behind him, all looking weary.

"I think I should be a part of these meetings. If I have to face Voldemort then I should be allowed in the meeting that will have to do with Voldemort." Harry said with a face daring someone to say something against it.

And Snape dared. "This meeting is about the Malfoys, Potter so you have no right to be in it." Snape sneered.

"There his followers and more than likely this meeting will turn out to be about him anyway," Harry countered.

"I think young Harry should be allowed to attend this meeting too, Severus. I believe it is time we start letting him see this war for what it is, besides he has a point. He will be on the front line in this war." Dumbledore spoke with a small smile on his lips.

Snape looked over at the Malfoys who gave a slight nod before answering, "Fine, but the rest have to leave. This is personal information."

"They might as well stay, I'd tell them anyway." Harry reasoned

"You most certainly will not. This is confidential and shouldn't be discussed by children."

Before any of the other teenagers could protest, Mrs. Weasley was already up and coming to the door." I agree with Severus. You are all much too young to be in this, especially you Ginny. Don't really think Harry should be in here either, but I will just have to make one exception. Come on, off with you all."

Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into the door before shutting it on the others a stern look present in her eyes, meaning no funny business. Now, only the two Weasleys parents, Sirius, Remus, Mad Eye, Tonks, Kingsley, McGonagall, Snape, Dumbledore, the Malfoys, and Harry were in the room. Sitting down in between Tonks and Sirius, Harry looked over at the Malfoys, for the first time noticing that they both looked paler than usual.

"I bet we all have questions we would like answers to," Dumbledore spoke, breaking the silence in the room.

"Yeah, like why there's three bloody Death Eaters in my bloody house!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sit doggy, sit. Do we need to put you in time out?" Severus said, his sneer getting bigger.

"Shut up Snivellus! What's the big idea in bringing them here?!" Sirius said, his face turning red as he pointed at the Malfoys.

"Calm down Sirius. We will get answers if you just be quite." Remus whispered, trying to calm his easily tempered friend.

"Maybe I can answer why we are here," Lucius spoke for the first time since he got there. With an encouraging nod from Dumbledore he continued. "My son, wife and I all wish to change sides. The Dark Lord has lost my loyalty."

"Why? Wasn't giving you enough praise for killing a whole muggle family?" Sirius asked his voice full of sarcasm.

Ignoring Sirius comment Lucius went on. "I failed him in the mission at the Ministry when I didn't retrieve the prophecy. He tortured us for what seems like hours wasn't what made me leave though. He thought he was being too leant by only punishing us who failed. He said we needed to understand that our failure doesn't just affect us but what is important to us." Lucius was quite a minute before continuing, his voice sounding hoarse "He tortured him. Not just with the Cruciatus curse, that would've been too nice he said. No, the Dark Lord had other Death Eater whip and beat him too, so the message was clear; So I would never fail him again. He made us sit there and watch, restrained from stopping it. To make it even worse they put a spell so no matter how much it hurt he wouldn't pass out. We had to listen to every scream and whimper that left his mouth." Lucius was speaking in whispers now, his eyes glazed over. Narcissa, who was sitting right next to him, had burst into tears and was now sobbing hysterically. "When they were finished he just laid there. His eyes closed, not making a sound. He almost looked at peace, but the pools of blood marred the site, letting you know something was wrong."

Not once had Mr. Malfoy said a name and for some reason that made Harry's stomach churn even more. "Where is Draco?" Harry whispered but everyone heard him anyway.

"He is the reason I brought them here," Snape said taking over for Lucius as he comforted his wife. "Draco was in critical state by the end of the… session. You could barely even feel a pulse, but there was one, light mind you, but one never the less. I knew they would be safe here so I asked Lucius if there was a way to get out would he leave it all behind, no looking back and he agreed eagerly."

Narcissa, who had calmed down spoke up, "We never wanted to follow the Dark Lord. Sure, we believe that our blood should be preserved and that wizards shouldn't marry muggles, but not that you should kill people for being a muggle. But we didn't have a choice either way. Our parents forced us to join. We knew the Dark Lord wasn't gone the first time, not really so we acted as we did when he was alive. We acted as cowards, but we had a vulnerability then and now, our son.

Narcissa's eyes seemed to plead with everyone's to understand and for the first time Harry thought that the usual regal and refined Mrs. Malfoy looked old and tired. Lucius seemed to look worn out too, but his face held something else that Harry had never seen there before. Desperation ? Hopelessness?

The room had grown tensely quite as nobody knew what to say. Some were wondering should they comfort their old enemy's or continue with the questions. Others were wondering what they would have done in such situations.

Not being able to stand it anymore, Mrs. Weasley crossed the room and captured Mrs. Malfoy in a big hug. "It's okay. I understand completely. You did it for your son and now he is hurt. It's okay." For a moment Mrs. Malfoy was tense, but finally she eased into the embrace.

"I believe that is enough for tonight. More questions can be asked on a later date, eh? Mr. Malfoy could you please repeat your allegiance to the Order under Veristiseum syrup later after the meeting?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of, course, Sir," Mr. Malfoy answered.

"With that I say meeting adjourned. Oh, Harry can I speak to you for a minute?" He asked waving, Harry over.

"Yes, Sir," Harry answered making his way over to Dumbledore.

Bringing Harry to the side Dumbledore started, "Mr. Potter, I understand how you might want to tell your friends of what you learned in the meeting today, but you can't." Before Harry could argue, Dumbledore hurried on, "With more power comes great responsibility, Harry. This is Draco's story to tell and if he doesn't wish to say what he has been through then it isn't your place to tell. You will find being allowed in these meetings is both a blessing and a curse. Do you understand, my boy?" Dumbledore said patting Harry on the back.

"Yes sir, just one question. Where is Draco right now?"

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**Alright well, I hope that is enough for now. It's kind of still a little… confusing but I hope some questions are answered. Thanks for Reading. Please review and say something! :) **


	3. Chapter 3: A Little Talk

I am so sorry! Life got busy ,but here. I know it's short ,but I plan to write more soon so...

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**Chapter 3: A Little Talk**

On the fifth floor, down the hall from the third potion's room, around the corner from the second library was the bedroom where Draco was. Not many people went all the way up to the fifth floor, for the simple reason that there was no need. The library was filled with dark arts books that had many curses and spells on them, that not even Hermione thought was worth going through for the information inside them and the potions room was a horrible mess, it looked like Buckbeak had gotten into everything. Most seemed to forget about the small bedroom at the edge of the hall, yet this basic room that had light blue walls and maple wood floors seemed like the perfect place to hide and heal a battered body.

That's why late that night after a long Order meeting Harry found himself outside the door that led to that very room. He wasn't sure why he came tonight. Dumbledore had told him where Draco was and that he should try to help the hurt teenager. With further persuasion Harry agreed that he would and now here he was. With a knock on the door, Harry opened it and walked in. "Hello," Harry whispered. The room was quiet; nothing was to be heard except soft breathing noises. Walking up to the bed Harry was taken aback.

He knew that the Death Eaters hadn't used the Cruciatus Curse, but he still wasn't prepared for the sight he saw. Lying in the bed was a beaten up Draco. Big bruises of purple and black covered his face and what Harry could see of his chest. Cuts ran all over him, varying in size. If it wasn't for the blond hair, that still had specks of blood in it, and the Malfoy's, who were downstairs, Harry would have sworn Snape picked up the wrong person.

Getting over his shock Harry set down by the side of the bed. Looking back at the bed Harry spoke, "Wow. You look bad Malfoy." Since Draco was asleep Harry wasn't surprised when he didn't get a reply. Not knowing what else to do he kept talking.

"This doesn't seem real. I never thought I would see the day your parents looked so run down. They usually seem so invisible, always put together, calm, but just now… they looked like everything they ever loved was taken from them. Your mom was actually crying, in front of people.. I didn't even know they could feel sad." Thinking of his last statement Harry added "No offense."

With a sigh, Harry got up and began to pace in front of the bed, his arms clasped behind his back, head looking down at the floor. "It's… I don't understand. Voldemort is cruel, but how could he be this cruel to one of his most loyal follower? Well, ex-follower now. I wonder if your parents would have changed sides if this didn't happen. You know they said they never wanted to be a Death Eater. They said their parents made them become one. You probable knew that though." Looking up at the bed Harry asked, "Would you have become one if you had a choice? If your parents were still one? I mean you don't like muggles, or do you? I don't know if it was all an act or if you really felt that way. If someone was to ask, I couldn't tell them. I thought I knew. I guess it doesn't matter now."

Moving closer to the bed Harry could see Draco hadn't moved at all. Huffing he sat at the edge of the bed. "Dumbledore thinks we would make great friends. You think we could be close?" With a chuckle he continued, "I always did wonder what would have happened if I took your hand. Now I guess I'll be able to figure out."

Standing up, Harry put his hand out in front of him and said, "Hi, my name is Harry Potter, but you can just call me Harry. Just Harry." He let his hand stay out in the wind for a few more minutes before letting it fall to his side with a slap. "Maybe one day," Harry whispered making his way out of the room, not seeing the small smile make it way on to one bruised blonds face.

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Okay so for now that's where we are at. You know what helps me write more... if you review the story and tell me what you think. Thanks,

BTW: Review!


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